HBA-NLM H.B. 2846 76(R)    BILL ANALYSIS


Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 2846
By: Brimer
County Affairs
4/5/1999
Introduced



BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE 

Under current law, county sheriffs have the exclusive authority to operate
a commissary for the use of prisoners of the county jail.  According to a
1991 attorney general opinion (DM-67), county commissioners courts are
prohibited from interfering with a sheriff's exercise of discretion in
contracting under Section 351.0415 (Commissary Operation by Sheriff), Local
Government Code. Commissioners courts are authorized to order the county
auditor to examine jail commissary accounts more than once a year.  

H.B. 2846 requires the sheriff of a county, which has a population of one
million or more and contains two or more cities each with a population of
250,000 or more, to provide the commissioners court of the county each
contract the sheriff makes under this section relating to the commissary.
This bill requires the sheriff to provide the contract within 10 days after
the date the contract is made. 

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that this bill does
not expressly delegate any additional rulemaking authority to a state
officer, department, agency, or institution. 

SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS

SECTION 1.  Amends Section 351.0415, Local Government Code, by adding
Subsection (e), as follows: 

(e)  Requires the sheriff of a county, which has a population of one
million or more and contains two or more cities each with a population of
250,000 or more, to provide the commissioners court of the county each
contract the sheriff makes under this section relating to the commissary.
Requires the sheriff to provide the contract within 10 days after the date
the contract is made. 

SECTION 2.  Makes application of this Act prospective.

SECTION 3.  Emergency clause.